CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale will host the annual “Music & Motion” high school marching band competition in Saluki Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 1.
Under the direction of George Brozak, director of athletic bands, this year’s competition will showcase 17 marching visiting schools from Illinois and Missouri and allow those students and their families an opportunity to spend time around SIU’s own Marching Salukis and the campus.
“I’m excited because the weather looks like it will be a perfect fall day in Southern Illinois and the campus for the kids to showcase the productions they have been working on since summer,” Brozak said. This is the 12th year that Brozak, who is also associate director of bands in the School of Music, has directed the event.
Marching Salukis will also perform
Gates open and ticket sales begin at 9:30 a.m. with competition starting at 10 a.m. and awards scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for youth and senior citizens. Children under 4 years old are admitted free. The Marching Salukiswill perform a non-competitive exhibition right before the awards program.
Marching Salukis play integral role
The 165-member Marching Salukis will perform an exhibition at 2:15 p.m. prior to the awards presentation and they also play an integral role during the competition.
In working the event, band members will chaperone the bands, assist them in getting on and off the field, take care of the high school hash marks, assist each of the seven judges, do tabulations and sell tickets and programs. The performances also serve as an important recruiting tool for both the Marching Salukis and SIU Carbondale.
The East Prairie High School Band out of Missouri will start the competition at 10 a.m. with the opening 15-minute window. A different band performs every 15 minutes. Bands are divided into four classifications based on band size, not overall school enrollment.
Columbia High School will perform in the non-competitive festival division and will receive comments from judges.
The competing bands and their classifications are:
Class C Division
- Anna-Jonesboro Community High School
- East Prairie High School, East Prairie, Missouri
- Mater Dei High School
- Murphysboro High School
- Puxico High School, Puxico, Missouri
- Richland County High School, Olney
- Sparta High School
- Wesclin High School, Trenton
Class B Division
- Carbondale Community High School
- Carterville High School
- Northwest High School, Cedar Hill, Mo
- Pinckneyville Community High School
Class AA Division
- Belleville West High School
- Marion High School
Class A Division
- Cape Central High School, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
- Waterloo High School.
